Supplier News
Brazil – Brazil to privatise instant games
By Phil - 28 October 2015
In order to strengthen revenue for the state the Brazilian government has announced that it is now preparing the tender procedure for the private sector to run the entire operation of its instant games division.
Instants are currently managed solely by Caixa (Brazil’s state owned bank).
It is understood that measures which authorise Caixa to buy stakes in other banks, either directly or through subsidiaries, are being used to pave the way for Caixa to immediately create a new company to operate instant lotteries.
Superintendent of the National Lottery Gilson César Pereira Braga told press that the tender model for the entire chain of instant lottery games is a requirement for foreign groups and confirmed that he had met with gaming company Scientific Games as well as six other companies to discuss the matter.
To avoid having to change legislation, Caixa, which has a monopoly on lotteries in the country, will continue as be the official “owner” of the company, but the operation of instants including pre-production, production, logistics, telemarketing, sales and after-sales will go to a single company or a consortium of private companies. Currently, only the distribution of instant tickets by mail, and printing are outsourced.
The company which is awarded the tender may, it is believed, be also permitted to expand the point of sale network currently in place for instant tickets. Instant tickets are becoming increasingly popular in Brazil. Sales increased by 26.5 per cent from US$ 56,935,494.84 in 2013 to US$ 72,107,753.34 in 2014.
The news comes after the Brazilian Senate approved laws which would allow for two new sports betting lotteries in July. The first new lottery will be an instant called Lotex and will be based around the theme of local football clubs. The other product is a quiniela sports game based on the results on local football matches and other sporting events. Seven per cent of revenue will be destined to sports in schools while three per cent will go directly to Brazilian football clubs.
Brazil officially entered recession in August after official figures revealed that the country’s economy had contracted by 1.9 per cent between April and June compared with the previous three months. Compared with 2014 the economy has shrunk by 2.6 per cent.
The privatisation of instants could herald more significant changes in the Brazilian gaming industry. As reported Brazil could legalise fully fledged casinos as well as online gambling in order to raise money and help weather the recession. Shortfall in taxes generated by Brazil’s struggling economy has prompted Dilma Rousseff to meet with party leaders to discuss opening up the market to see if new proposals would have their approval.
